Joe Biden’s limits on LNG exports won’t help the climate

“FREEDOM GAS”LNGLNGLNGLNG saved Europe from an energy crisis. The old continent’s imports of American liquefied natural gas (), first equated with liberty by Donald Trump’s administration in 2019, ballooned from 16m tonnes in 2021, the year before Russia invaded Ukraine and all but stopped piping gas to Europe, to 46m tonnes last year. The decisions to redirect cargoes destined for Asia and elsewhere to Europe were made by private companies. But they enjoyed strong official support from Mr Trump’s successor, Joe Biden. So did exports more broadly, turning America into the world’s biggest exporter, ahead of Qatar and Australia.On January 26th Mr Biden threw a spanner in the gasworks. He announced a “temporary pause” on pending -export projects such as gas terminals, so that officials can scrutinise their economic, security and environmental impact. The decision is not an export ban and does not halt initiatives that have already been approved by the Department of Energy. But it does freeze a few big proposed but unapproved projects that would benefit countries which do not have free-trade agreements with America (a large group which includes big markets in Europe and Asia).